


where we go from here

by pvrker



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adopted Peter Parker, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parent Tony Stark, Precious Peter Parker, Temporary Character Death, Tony Stark Has A Heart, post infinity war and takes place during endgame
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:47:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22550461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pvrker/pseuds/pvrker
Summary: He's crazy. What makes him think he's qualified foranyof this? Yet, he re-paints the guest room and buys a shelf of children's books, swaps black curtains out for sky-blue ones before filling a chest with toys.His name is Peter Parker, ten years old with two missing front teeth, brown hair and eyes and a sprinkle of freckles on his face.Tony swears, headoresthe kid as soon as he sees him.orAfter finding out Pepper didn't survive the snap, Tony can't live with himself and the loneliness anymore until he acts upon his impulses and decides he wants to be a single dad
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 63
Kudos: 237





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> okay crazy idea came to me while my dad was driving me to school tday and i have the whole thing planned out so hopefully i can finish it lmao. 
> 
> this is sort of au, (if you didn't read the tags) peter never got bitten by a spider, therefore he and tony never met. he's younger than he is in canon (sort of??) and is living in a foster home until tony decides to scoop him up and shit (i'm sorry, i got three hours of sleep and i'm running on a single cup of coffee)
> 
> anyway, enjoy?? idk :')

It isn't that bad of a way to go out, Tony thinks. In fact, it's better than how he'd pictured the day of his death--he always thought that he'd die doing the thing he loves doing the most (being Iron Man, which he _technically_ is) or just of natural causes. Now, sitting in the pilot seat of a slowly malfunctioning spaceship, all he can think is; _this isn't too bad_. 

Of course, they failed. _He_ failed. He can still hear the snapping of two metal fingers ringing in his ears, feel Strange and Quill's dust on his hands.

But. This isn't too bad. He isn't going out with a bang, no, but it's a pretty peaceful way to die--with the stars displayed out there for him to see as he takes his final few breaths.

He can hear Nebula's footsteps behind him and smell the steel-infused atmosphere floating in the ship. There's iron on the tip of his tongue and his fingers brush up against worn-out leather armrests for one last time.

It's nice way to go out.

Tony wonders if Pepper will ever see his recording. He hopes she does.

Dying feels just like going to sleep, there's a soft aspect to it. He even yawns, he's pretty sure. Tony's eyelids fight to stay open, drooping down instead in those last few moments. The past forty-eight years of his life don't flash before his eyes like people say it does. In contrast, he sees a happy little imagined picture of a wooden cabin by a clear-green lake, somewhere upstate he guesses.

Huh. That would have been nice.

He's contemplating the cozy house by the lake, eyes barley open, when he feels a sudden surge of warmth rubbing against his cheek. It's barely there but there's a light pointing and illuminating his face. Tony wonders if this is what people mean when they say they're going towards the light. It isn't half bad.

The strobe-like light gets brighter and brighter, up until the point where he has to squint to keep his eyes focused on the source.

And then, he makes out the slightly blurry figure of a smiling woman. It looks like she's on fire--Tony's pretty sure he's already dead by now and descending towards some kind of eternal state of being. Or just black-out hallucinating. One of the two.

But before he can get his neurons working anew, he's jerking back into his seat and the ship is moving at top speed.

The funny part--he doesn't descend to some spiritual realm, he's instead met by one Steve Rogers as soon as the ship lands on the compound's field and the ramp lowers to the grass.

"Couldn't stop him," he says. He wants to cry but he's too dehydrated to.

Steve uses an arm to stabilize him before wrapping him in the hug they'd once thought they'd never share. "Neither could I,"

"I lost everybody, they're all-"

"Tony, _we_ lost." 

He gulps, dry-mouthed. "Is...uh? Pepper,"

Judging by the way Steve tentatively looks away, Tony already knows the answer. It's further confirmed minutes later as he's sitting in a wheel chair, staring at Pepper's face on the holographic casualty report list. _The Decimation_ , they're calling it. It does not roll of the tongue.

To break the thick layer of silence, Rhodey steps forward. "It's been twenty-three days since Thanos came to Earth."

"World governments are in pieces. The parts that are still working are trying to take a census. And it looks like he did- he did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Thanos wiped out fifty percent, of all living creatures." Natasha adds and the grief in her voice is all too evident.

"Wha- where is he now?" Tony asks because _he needs to know_.

"We don't know. He just opened a portal and walked through," Steve says, almost like there's nothing else to say.

Thor is sulking in a far corner, left alone. There's a talking garbage raccoon standing on the table and _Carol_. New blood, fresh blood. They could use her.

The only thing he can focus on however--his goatee (beard) is _fucking_ itchy. _God_ , he needs to shave.

Steve gets on his last living and functioning nerve and he collapses then and there.

What happens next, he isn't involved.

While Tony's recovering in the comfort of his room at the compound, the rest of the team find Thanos, kill him, but the stones are gone. Snapped out of existence just like half of the planet--if not the _universe_.

Thor disappears. Steve, Natasha, Bruce and Rhodey stay vacant at the compound. Rocket and Nebula say their goodbyes and the ship disappears from outside the compound in a single night.

Tony goes back to Stark Industries, the city in general, to pretend none of this ever happened. He re-takes the position as CEO and tries to forget that Pepper had been sitting at the same desk for years. But it's hard to when half of his best employees are gone and when Manhattan Avenue isn't as busy as it'd used to be during the day. SI's stocks go up, peaking like they never have before and Tony rides up to the penthouse every night as he gets more and more used to eating dinner and sleeping in a large bed alone.

It's like his early thirties all over again.

The events that happen within the next month are an effect of his own impulses. He comes home one evening, once again, to the empty and echoing shell of the penthouse. Pepper's ghost is hovering around him in the form of her shoes and clothes hanging in the closet, the untouched bottle of French perfume sitting on her nightstand and her fancy vegan cookbooks on the counter.

He's about three seconds away from getting FRIDAY to order a few bottles of scotch when the idea hammers itself into his head.

He's crazy. Completely crazy. What makes him think he's qualified for _any_ of this? Yet, he re-paints the guest room and buys a shelf of children's books. Tony swaps black curtains out for sky-blue, cloud-pattered ones before filling a chest with toys and draping a fuzzy rug in the center of his project.

Peter. His name is Peter Parker, ten years old with two missing front teeth, brown hair and eyes and a sprinkle of freckles on his face. 

Tony swears, he _adores_ the kid as soon as he sees him. The agency schedules a day for them to spend together before they (mostly Tony) get to decide if this becomes permanent. Tony takes the kid out for ice cream before heading to the park to fly kites. (The same park he'd told Pepper about his crazy dream about some baby they'd named after her eccentric Uncle)

"That was _so_ much fun!" Peter says at the end of the day, licking his fingers of ketchup from the hot dogs Tony bought at a stand.

And Tony can't disagree.

 _Tony Stark already moving on after fiance Pepper Potts succumbs to The Decimation? See Pictures Below!_ The world is currently processing an international crisis and people still have the guts to write bullshit articles like these? _Tony Stark was spotted in Central Park yesterday afternoon with mystery child_ \- he stops reading after that and laughs, throwing his phone on the counter.

Peter becomes temporary. He sleeps at the penthouse almost everyday (except Sundays, he goes back to the foster agency) and is currently shinning a new light in Tony's life, as cliche as it sounds.

"My tooth is growing in! Mister Tony, look!" Peter rushes into his room one morning, smelling like toothpaste and dressed in Batman PJ's.

It's been five months since their initial meeting and to say the kid hasn't grown on him would be an absolute lie.

"Oh really? Wow, lemme see," Tony plays along and peers at the teeth growing out of Peter's bright pink gums. "Lordy, that looks like a big one."

" _Duh_ , s'not a baby tooth anymore,"

He ruffles Peter's hair and tells him that he can go watch _Hey Arnold_ if he wants, since it's always on in the morning. "Take your socks off if you're going to run and wait for me to get you your cereal before you try an make it yourself,"

"Okay!" Peter bubbles, dashing down the hallway, socks left discarded on the hardwood floors.

They go through the whole CPS visit thing. Surprisingly, Tony passes. They both pass after a day of being observed eating, doing homework and playing with Peter's favorite Legos.

Peter Parker-Stark. Now _that_ has a nice ring to it. Rolls nicely off the tongue.

And along the way, Tony texts the others about the news but eventually forgets about Iron Man and Avenging. The world is too broken for Earth mightiest heroes to fix. Are they still even worthy of such title?

Peter asks him who the pretty lady in the picture hung up in the hallway is; Tony changes the subject by bringing up the unattended juice pops in the freezer.

If he sheds a few tears in the dark that night, no one has to know.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have writer's high wtf, i think i sort of like...rushed this chapter too much

Five years later and it's like Tony has found his will to live again--which he, in fact, has.

The cabin by the lake he'd pictured long ago becomes a reality, they had moved in when Peter turned eleven. It's upstate (again, like he imagined) in the middle of a safely secured and not so secluded patch of forest and woods. They have pool floats and kayaks out on the lake, a little barn out back where Gerald the alpaca resides for most of the day, a tree house out front accompanied by the porch swing adorned with clashing but soft pillows.

It differs from the penthouse in so many ways; the lake house is much more cozy, warm and small. In the right ways. All the furniture is made of pure wood and naturally glazed ceramics. There's always birds singing or crickets chirping during the evenings or early in the morning. Then there's the fact that everything is done manually around the house--FRIDAY is very much still a thing but she's more informative than she is hands-on.

The fact that he has to do everything himself--washing the dishes, doing the laundry, making the dishes--brings him a sort of inner peace that he'd though he'd never achieve.

The lake house also enables for Tony to embrace his softer side. He walks around the house in sweats and hoodies, mismatched socks and beanies most days and does sometimes yoga after waking up.

He takes care of all things Stark Industries from the comfort of his own bed, on his computer since they don't really need him to be in the city for most of the time.

It certainly isn't the life he'd pictured a ten years ago. But it's life and he doesn't hate it.

If anything, he loves it.

There's a lump beneath his duvet when he turns to his side. The bedroom blinds are open and Tony can see Gerald feeding on their home-grown Goji berries out in the backyard. He grunts when he gets kneed in the hip, lifting the covers to find Peter curled on the other side of the bed.

"G'mornin'," the kid groans.

Tony blinks and hums. "Morn'," he rubs his eyes and looks at the edge of the bed where their two cats (Trigger and Memo) are softly purring in their sleep. "I see the whole family's here. What a pleasant surprise, though I can't say I'm surprised."

Peter turns to face him, eyes opening and reflecting sunlight. "They got lonely,"

"And you decided to bring them here?"

"You love 'em. Besides the whole family isn't here, y'forgot about Gerald." he sleepily growls.

Tony scoffs and pinches his glasses from the nightstand, shoving them onto his face. "He's anti-social."

"Because _you_ threaten to send him to Alaska!"

"Because _he_ eats all _my_ Goji berries!"

Trigger hisses and claws his way to Tony, snuggling into his chest like Peter does when he feels like he (quote) ' _isn't too old to be hugging his old man_ '. He looks out the window--it looks extremely pleasant out. They must have slept in a little late since the lake is glimmering and it the air feels a tad bit more warm than it does in the morning. Hopefully they can go for a short swim later in the day, when Peter finishes the homework he has to do for his VHS courses.

"Up and at 'em, kid." Tony yawns and rolls out of bed with a very much asleep cat in his arms.

Peter does that thing where he quivers his bottom lip and blinks angelically. Tony scoffs. "Nice try but your puppy dog eyes only ever worked back when you were eleven,"

"Why do we even need to be up this early on a _Sunday_?"

"It's _eleven-thirty_ and I just _know_ you're starving." he says because when isn't the kid hungry?

Peter shrugs and pulls the blanket over his head. "I guess you're right. But I get to choose what we're having and I say we're having pasta,"

"Works for me. C'mon, you can go feed Gerald something other than _my_ Goji berries-"

"Stop being so salty about that. You're the one who brought him into this family so stop talking about Gerald _Stark_ like he's a disgrace,"

"Oh he's not a disgrace, trust me."

"I feel like that was a euphemism for something," Peter squints.

"It wasn't. Why would it be?"

Their Sunday morning (basically noon) routine goes the same as it does every week. Tony brushes his teeth and Peter hands him a glass of orange juice, smiling. He spits it out almost immediately, wondering how and why he falls for this every time. They turn the TV on and Peter watches Ocean's Eleven all over again while Tony cooks his mostly Italian-based dishes in the kitchen.

Around a quarter past noon, Peter steps outside to give Gerald a pat on the head and something to eat, _other_ than Tony's berries. (He'll _always_ be pissy about it) And of course, he has to go out and call the kid in for lunch because once he steps outside, he never seems to come back on his own. (Tony found him sleeping in near their vegetable garden just last week). 

Tony finds Peter splayed out in the treehouse up above, spread out like a starfish. Tony claps his hands a few times before shouting, "Chow time! Peter B. Stark, it's lunch time,"

The kid peeks his head through the doorway but instead of seeing a head of brown hair, he sees a red mask with white eyes staring back at him. "Define lunch,"

"Okay, you should _not_ be wearing that." he climbs up into the treehouse, pulling the mask off of Peter's face. "That was supposed to be part of a special birthday gift I'm making for you. Way to ruin the surprise."

"Okay?"

"There you go. Are you thinking about lunch now? I can give you a handful of crickets on a bed of lettuce if you want."

Peter scrunches his nose and flops back onto the creaky wooden floor of the treehouse. "I'm not ten anymore, Tony."

"Of course you aren't but that's what you want." He sighs, sitting down himself. His knees crack as he does so. "How did you find this?"

"The mask? In the garage," Peter nonchalantly supplies.

"Really? Were you looking for it?"

The kid shakes his head. "No. I found it, though." Tony knows he's being honest.

"You really like going to the garage, huh? So do I. And it's fine. You never wear anything I get you anyway."

"What is it for? It looks like a Halloween costume,"

"I'll tell you when you're older. Lunch is getting cold, let's go."

They start walking towards the house, talking about going kayaking later until Tony notices a black Audi pulling up and stopping a few meters away from their porch. He sighs when Steve hops out of the front seat, followed by Natasha and some other guy that he's pretty sure he's never seen before. Whatever they want to talk about, he isn't exactly looking forward to it.

"Hey Pete?" he starts, gently and defensively pushing the kid behind him. "Why don't you go set the table? I'll be with you in a sec,"

"O-okay. Do I- okay,"

He takes out the remaining jug of banana and apple smoothie he and the kid made the day before and listens to every single detail of Scott's incredibly half-assed plan.

"Stop, Scott. Stop. Are you telling me that your plan to save the universe is more than loosely based on Back to the Future?" he asks, because if it is, there's no point in even trying.

Scott stammers and blinks, an awkward look dancing in his eyes. "...No?"

"Good. Because that would be horseshit. Scientifically speaking, your brother’s picture doesn’t disappear just 'cause you went to the dance with your mom. That’s not how quantum physics works."

Natasha, who's been silent for most of the visit, steers her gaze away from the lake. "We have to take a stand,"

"We _did_ take a stand. Yet here we are."

Scott insists, "I get that you’ve got a lot on the line here. You’ve got a kid, a family. But I lost someone very important- a lot of us did- and now we have a chance to save her, and everyone else, and you won’t even-"

"No, Scott. I won't even."

The screen door opens and Peter steps out of the house, gnawing on his lip and swimming in Tony's MIT hoodie. "Um, I'm bleeding," he says and Tony gestures for him to come over.

"What happened? Let me see," he takes Peter's hand and observes as liquid red seeps through a slit in his thumb. Tony ignores the others' intense scrutiny while he wipes the blood away with the sleeve of his sweater. "there's band-aids in the bathroom upstairs, go ahead, I'll be right back."

"Okay, uh, alright,"

When Peter disappears into the house again, Tony sighs. "I wish you were coming here to ask me something else. _Anything_ else. I’m honestly so happy to see you. If you want to stay-"

Steve tries again. "Tony, I get it. And I’m happy for you, I really am. But this is a second chance."

"Yeah, well, I got my second chance right here. I can’t roll the dice on it. The table is set for six, if you don’t talk shop, you’re welcome to stay for lunch."

He walks them back out front and hugs Natasha before the car disappears behind an array of trees. Peter is already eating his lunch when he steps into the living room, a bright red band-aid wrapped around his thumb. "Hey," he says. "I made lemonade."

Tony helps himself to a serving of pasta and plops down on the couch next to the kid. "Is that how you stabbed yourself?"

"I didn't _stab_ myself." he laughs and then pauses. "Why were they here?"

"Who?" he pretends to play dumb. Just for a second.

Peter doesn't believe him for anything. "Them. Steve and Natasha and that other guy."

Tony knows he could just flat out refuse to tell him anything and everything. He doesn't want Peter to get involved in what there's left to get involved in. Thanos is dead, the stones are gone. So is half of the universe. The mask, the one that Peter had been wearing earlier in the treehouse--it's part of a suit Tony's been working on for the past two months. Sort of like Iron Man; made of cold, hard, raw iron. He'd planned on giving it to Peter on his sixteenth birthday. It's for protection, in the event of something going wrong, protection _only_.

But there's no absolute way he's letting Peter step onto the battle field. Not after everything he's lost.

He can't lose again.

"They wanted to talk about stuff." he simply answers.

Peter nuzzles into his side. "Yeah? What kind of stuff? Superhero stuff? Space stuff?"

"People who are over the age of twenty-one stuff, genius. Wait six more years and maybe we can talk," he softly taps the tip of his fork against the kid's wrinkled nose.

"Gross. You're gross."

"I love you too," and he _genuinely_ means it, like he does every time he says those three words.

Afternoon settles in quickly and Peter finishes his homework and has a short video-conference with one of his online teachers. They canon ball off the dock and spend a good hour or two splashing around in the lake until their fingers get wrinkly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> peter isn't spider-man *surprise!!*
> 
> before people start screaming at and attacking me, it'll make more sense as the story progresses i swear!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @scurvycorn i put our swear jar joke in here oops :)c
> 
> this chapter is sort of like, not my best writing because i'm tired af but promised a third chapter like two days ago. sorry for any typos, i didn't beta read but-
> 
> the story must move on!

Tony is washing the dishes a bit too aggressively, spritzing a few plates with the dish sprayer, when he accidentally sprays a picture sitting on a nearby shelf.  
  
It's a picture of him and Pepper--in Malibu where they'd spent their summer just last year. Tony picks up the frame with a wet hand, towel over his shoulder, and sighs.  
  
It's almost midnight. He and Peter finish a pint of mango sorbet before he sends the kid off to bed for the night.  
  
"Don't stay up all night watching Netflix," he tells Peter as the kid climbs up the stairs, blanket wrapped around his shoulders. "one hour, max."  
  
"Okay, _Dad_."  
  
"Don't sass me, young man." he says but there's no actual malice behind his words. "I'll be up in a sec,"  
  
Peter yawns from the top of the steps. "'kay,"  
  
As soon as hears a door closing, Tony moves from the living room to the little alcove just a few meters away. He taps the glass pad on the table next to the bookshelf and not seconds after, an array of holographic penrose diagrams and capacitors illuminate before him.  
  
Tony hasn't been able to sink himself into work like this for quite a while. Not that he can't--more like he doesn't feel the need to create distractions for himself. It's out of curiosity this time because time travel isn't actually possible. Is it? There's no way to not simultaneously tear a hole through space, right?  
  
"Friday, you up?" he says thirty minutes into working.  
  
The AI chimes back immediately, "Yes, sir,"  
  
"I’ve had a mild inspiration, like to see if it checks out. Run one last sim before we pack it in for the night. This time, in the shape of a Mobius Strip, inverted." he asks, sinking back into his chair. He puts one hand over the other, scared of what might happen next.   
  
"Processing," FRIDAY hums.  
  
New models of the strip appear before him--still not quite right.  
  
"All right, give me the eigenvalue of that particle, factoring inspectral decomp and run it. That’ll take a second. And don’t worry if it doesn’t pan out, I’m just kind of..."  
  
"Rendered,"  
  
The hologram glows and Tony falls back into his seat, palms of his hands on his head, eyes wide and mouth open. "Shit,"  
  
"You're gonna have to put a five in the swear jar for that one," Peter's voice says from the bottom of the staircase. He's sitting on the last step, leaning against the wall with his phone in his hand.  
  
"First of all, what are you doing up? Second, I owe the swear jar nothing. I let it slide when you said a bad-language-word last week, thus, you're gonna let this one slide too." He turns off all the holograms and spins in his chair to face the kid.  
  
Peter rolls his eyes. "Fine, whatever. But why are you up? I heard someone talking and assumed we were being robbed."  
  
Like I'd ever let that happen, Tony wants to reply. "I just had something on my mind."  
  
"Was it..." Peter leans forward. "juice pops, perhaps?"  
  
Tony smiles. "Sure was. That's extortion kiddo, great minds think alike. You can have one, but then you'll brush your teeth and at least _pretend_ to be asleep."  
  
They end up having two and a half juice pops each before falling asleep on the couch with the TV on. 

-  
  
He likes driving fast--he hasn't done it in a while but he likes the thrill and the screech of the tires against hot, rocky tarmac. Peter has his window rolled down, letting the harsh gusts of wind punch him in the face and freshen out the rest of the car.  
  
As they pull up closer to the compound, Tony can see Steve standing near the entrance, head in his hands.  
  
He hits accelerates and the engine beautifully rumbles before he hits breaks fast enough that they come to a smooth stop. Tony rolls the window down and he and Steve's eyes meet, sharing the same glance. "Why the long face? Wild guess, he turned into a baby?"  
  
Steve blinks and laughs. "Among other things, yeah."  
  
He gets out of the car, leaving Peter in the front seat. The air smells different here, much more industrially clean and full of memories both wanted and unwanted. "EPR Paradox. Instead of pushing Lang through time, you were pushing time through Lang. It’s extremely dangerous, probably should’ve cautioned you against it."  
  
"You did,"  
  
"In that case, thank god I'm here. Anyways, I fixed it," he holds up the device wrapped around the middle of his hand. "a fully functioning time-space GPS. I just want peace. Resentment is corrosive, hate it."  
  
"Me too,"  
  
For a brief second, just a moment in time, they have the same smiles on their faces. The same sort of understanding. Common ground.  
  
"We’ve got a shot at the Stones. I just need you to know my priorities; bring back everyone we lost, hopefully, and keep what I found, definitely. And let’s try to not die while trying."  
  
The other man's hand reaches out towards him and then they're shaking hands for the first time in years. "Sounds like a deal."  
  
"But wait, there’s more. Act now, and it comes with a bonus offer." Tony walks to the back of the car and opens the trunk. Steve's shield looks new and shiny and untouched when he pulls it out from under a number of boxes.  
  
"Tony, I don’t know-"  
  
"What’s to know? He made it for you. Plus, I gotta get it out of the garage before Peter tries to use it for 'experimental' purposes again,"  
  
Steve stares at the red, white and blue vibranium for an extended amount of time before finally deciding to strap it to his arm. "Thank you, Tony."  
  
"Just don’t flaunt it. I didn’t bring enough for the whole team. We are getting the whole team, right?"  
  
The other grins. "We're trying,"  
  
Peter waves from inside the car and Steve waves back, the apples of his cheeks bright pink.  
  
Rocket and Nebula come back from wherever they've been for the past five years. Natasha reels Clint into the operation and Tony sees Rhodey for the first time in a few months. Thor is, needless to say, in a totally, completely different state than he'd been five years ago. So is Bruce, apparently.  
  
"Out of the way, Lebowski." Tony says, carrying a large metal pipe across the compound floor.  
  
They time machine (controversial name if you ask him) is built within the remainder of the day. It's an all hands on deck situation--everyone is needed no matter how smart of weak.  
  
Peter bounces up to him as he's fixing a bolt into the platform. "So we're _actually_ gonna go back in time?"

Tony wants to smack his forehead. Originally, Peter wasn't even supposed to know about any of _this_. But it'd come to him two nights ago that this mission, this whole time travel thing, could take longer than anticipated (even though _technically_ , they'd only be gone for a few minutes) and he doesn't want to have to leave Peter at the house alone, in case anything happened. So Tony had told him most things; about the stones, about Thanos but without mentioning their loss.

Tony knows he's potentially putting him in danger--the last thing he wants to do is put Peter in danger--but he also knows that he can't just jump into the quantum realm and leave the kid in the blue.

So that's why when Peter skips up to him, excited and manic while asking if he can come along, Tony is quick to shut him down.

"No, no, not you. You're not going _anywhere_." he says. "But essentially, yeah. We're going back in time."  
  
Peter scoffs, offended. "Wh- what do you mean I'm not going anywhere? I was just as involved in building this time machine as the rest of you! I'm fifteen-"  
  
" _Barley_ legal,"  
  
"And technically, I have the right to make my own decisions. I mean, you said all hands on deck, I have hands! I can help! Remember the self-defense classes you forced me to take last year? I can fight,"

Tony sometimes forgets how stubborn Peter can be, as smart as he is.  
  
"But you're not going to because you're too young, kid."  
  
"But Rocket's going and he's like one-foot-one. And a _raccoon_!"  
  
Tony grunts and puts his spanner back into the toolbox next to him. "Peter, do you understand how _dangerous_ it is out on the battlefield? Walking out there is the equivalent of a death-wish, running straight into your own grave. Especially for someone like you, and I'm not about to risk it."  
  
"But you're only like- it's gonna be like Back To The Future,"  
  
"And who told you that?"  
  
"Mister Scott,"  
  
"Yeah, well, Scott has no idea what he's talking about."  
  
The thing about Peter is that he never gives up on his argument until he gets his way. It's a very good quality to have, but Tony knows from experience that it can be extremely annoying at times. "I'll go with you and I'll stay by your side the whole time, I _promise_. I'll be quiet and I won't talk to anyone, I _swear_. I'll do the dishes for two whole months when we get back and you won't have to put a penny in the swear jar for, like, _ever_. I mean, who's going to take care of me in case you guys are gone for like, thirty years? You have to take me, please,"  
  
Tony feels like crying then and there. _I don't want to lose you. Not you too. I can't afford to lose you. You're everything I have. You're the only reason I'm alive right now. I can't lose you._ "Peter- let's just...let's talk about it over dinner, okay?" is all he manages to say without breaking out into tears.  
  
They don't talk for the rest of the day.

The others get ready for the first test run. Scott volunteers, backs out, and Clint subs in. Tony had spent the previous few hours touching up a quantum suit (not the finished product, it's just for a test run) and it looks amazing, if he does say so himself.

They all gather around as Clint steps onto the platform alone.

Bruce stands behind the console and turns on all the settings and punches in the right date. "Okay, Clint. Starting in three, two, _one_ ,"

Clint nods and then disappears.

The air is silent and suspenseful for the next fifteen seconds. Peter, standing next to him, clings onto his arm without word. Steve is biting his fist and Natasha is silent in a far corner. If this works, Tony thinks, if this works then maybe they just have a chance at doing it all over again. Maybe they'll have a chance at fixing everything--bringing everyone back while keeping what they have. He looks at Peter and nuzzles his nose into his hair, holding him closer.

When Clint reappears on the platform, they all run to help him up.

"Are you all right? Hey, look at me. You okay?" Natasha holds his face in her hands, calming his breathing.

"Tell me something good," Tony says.

Clint looks up, tears in his eyes. "It- worked. It _worked_."

No one breathes for a minute, casting each other looks full of long-felt grief and hope. It's scary, knowing what they've just done. Of course, this is going to change _everything_. No more excuses, no more reasons to wallow--they're going back in _time_ to fix everything. Pepper's face flashes in his mind and Tony realizes, if this goes right and if nobody dies trying, he'll be able to see Pepper again. He'll be able to see Pepper again and he'll introduce her to Peter, they'll be _family_. He'll tell her about the events of the past five years, what movies she missed, what new kinds of vegan recipes came out.

Barnes, T'challa, Strange, Quill, Pepper--they'll all come back. 

Rocket breaks the silence. " _Holy crap_. We’re freaking time travelers."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's short but more interesting stuff happens in the next chapter, i swear

"Okay," Steve satisfyingly sighs. "Now that we’ve got _how_ , we’re going to need _where_ and _when_."

Tony stands in the corner of the room, cup of coffee in his hand and glasses pushed up the bridge of his nose. It's quiet before the storm, he thinks - the storm being whatever they're about to do, _if_ it'll work. Peter is vigorously taking note of everything they say, sat on the couch even though Tony told him he didn't have to be here if he didn't want to. But he should have know because, _of course_ , the kid wants to be here.

Steve continues. "Most folks here have encountered at least one of the six Infinity Stones - " 

"I think you mean nearly been _killed_ by one of the six Infinity Stones," Tony substitutes, stepping to stand newly next to the Captain.

"You know, I still have no idea what the hell any of you are talking about," Scott dumbly intervenes, ever the oblivious one in the room. "I mean, _I_ haven't been killed by any of these Stones. Just saying,"

Tony brings his cup to his lips. "Yeah, that's why he said _most folks_ , Louis Tully,"

"Regardless, we’ve only got enough Pym Particles for one round trip, each. And the Stones have been in a lot of places throughout history." Bruce adds.

" _Our_ history. Not all of them are going to be a fun drop-in." Tony quickly says.

Clint grunts from where he's perched up in the chair, tattooed arms crossed over his chest. "Which means we’ve got to pick our targets."

Steve snaps his fingers. "Exactly," he turns to the hologram in front of them, tapping on the picture of the Reality Stone. "Let’s start with the Aether. Thor, what do we know?"

Everyone simultaneously turns to look at the God of Thunder in question. Tony isn't sure he's even a god anymore - maybe a more bloated, hairy, cheese and beer smelling, blond version of him in his thirties. Thor sits quietly with sunglasses shielding his eyes, left hand inside his pants as he slumps further down. 

"Is he sleeping?" Natasha asks, worryingly.

"I'm pretty sure he's dead," Rhodey says.

Peter whispers. "I bet you ten bucks,"

" _Peter_ ," Tony scolds. 

Finally, after what must have been ten minutes, Thor rises from his chair. "The Aether isn't a stone, it’s more of an angry sludge. My grandfather hid it from the Dark Elves - wooooh, scary beings," he wiggles his fingers, imitating a ghost. Nobody laughs as Jane Foster's face appears on the holo-screen. "So Jane - that's Jane...she's an old flame of mine. She stuck her hand inside a rock this one time and then the Aether stuck itself inside her. A-and she became very, very sick."

Everyone winces uncomfortably and Tony resists the urge to cover the kid's ears with his hands.

Thor continues, "So I had to take her to Asgard, which is where I'm from, and we tried to uh, to fix her. We were dating at the time, you see, so I got to introduce her to my Mother...who's dead," the God of Thunder pinches his nose and sucks in a sharp breath. "and oh you know, Jane and I aren't even dating anymore, these things happen though you know, nothing last forever,"

Tony finally takes it upon himself to push the man (hermit?) back into his chair. "Okay big guy, awesome. Eggs? Breakfast?"

"I'd like a Bloody Mary, thank you."

Everybody sort of sags and begin to disperse out of the room one by one. 

Peter comes up to him once the rest of the team is out, clinging onto his arm. "So...about the who time travel thing - "

"Kid, I think we already firmly established that you aren't going out there. Or anywhere, for that matter." Tony calmly tells him as he snakes an arm around his shoulder and smoothens out his hair. This reckless kid that has been giving him an average of two-point-five heart attacks a day for the past five years. _God_. He doesn't want to say it - it's so sickeningly cliche - but time flies.

"But _Tony_ ,"

"But Tony what? But Tony I haven't finished my homework yet and I'm going to get to that right now?"

Peter groans. "I'm _so_ beyond homework right now,"

"Shh! Don't let Cap hear you, he'll lecture you about the importance of education for _hours_ ,"

"And he'll lecture you about being a good parent," the kid snarks.

"Peter Benjamin Parker-Stark!" Tony puts a hand to his chest and pretends to be offended. "God, what am I going to do with you?"

They order Chinese for dinner and everyone comes back to sit around the table and exchange new ideas. 

Rocket sits on top of the table, slurping noodles from his take-out container. "Quill once said he stole the Power Stone from Morag," 

"That’s a person?" Brice asks confused.

"It’s a planet. _Quill_ was a person." the raccoon defends.

And Scott has his mouth wide open, chopsticks dropped onto his place mat. "Wait, like...a _planet_? Morag is a planet in _space_?"

Rocket coos and pinches Scott's cheek and ruffles his hair. "Aw, _look_! It’s a puppy, all happy and everything. You want to go to space, puppy? I’ll take you to space,"

"We've dialed two Stones down so far," Steve comes up to him as they're clearing the table of plates after dinner. "Power on Morag and Reality in Asgard. Both in twenty-fourteen, I think. Maybe one's in twenty-twelve."

"That's - " Tony chokes on his own spit. "That's great, Steve. _Wow_. So close,"

The blond leans against the counter and watches as he plunges a few plates into the sink. "Yet so far, I know." he sighs. "How's the kid? Not too traumatized already, I hope."

Tony lightly laughs. "Naw, he's great. Tougher than you think,"

"He's - I'm very happy for you, Tony. 

"Thanks Cap, me too. You're not doing too bad yourself." he pats his teammate on the back. "You know, don't tell the kid I told you this but he was a very devoted Cap fan when he was ten - still is. If anything, even if you don't think so - you're still doing a lot of good for this world."

"So are you. Thank you,"

"Don't kick the bucket just yet, people will go _haywire_ ," Tony smiles and winks before he shoves his hands into his pockets and exits the kitchen.

While searching, he finds Peter and Scott bundled up in blankets on the balcony, looking at the stars above. He slides the glass door open and steps into the night, nuzzling himself between the two. "I can't believe you two decided to have a sleep-over without me,"

"There's a reason why we didn't invite you," Peter sasses.

" _Ooh_ , your levels of sass are _off the charts_ today, kid."

He falls asleep two minutes later, after listening to Scott and the kid ramble about bad movies from the eighties.

**Author's Note:**

> thoughts? comments? kudos? 
> 
> find me on tumblr @peteycakes


End file.
